Craig Gordon has indicated that his playing career could be finished if he does not find a club soon.
The 30-year old goalkeeper, who joined Sunderland from Heart of Midlothian for £9million in 2007, was released by the Black Cats in May last year after failing to fully recover from a broken arm and has opened the door to a future in coaching.
"It's very unlikely I will be playing again this season," he said.
"In fact, I am not sure if I will play again so I'm looking to get into coaching as I want to remain in the game.
"I'm not ruling out playing again but I need to get things in place if the news is not good."
Gordon has been involved with Dumbarton recently and says the experience of seeing what manager Ian Murray and his coaching staff do firsthand has been invaluable.
"I'm certainly not ready to chuck it just yet although it's been a long time, I'm still not sure where I will be going," he added.
"I've had some surgery on the arm, but it's not there yet. Whether I can get back to the level that I want is something I will have to find out. But at the moment it is not where I would like it to be.
"But as time goes on I have to put things in place for when that day finally arrives to call it a day.
"I really enjoyed it helping out Ian and the lads. It's something I want to do.
"I don't have the badges yet but it gave me an opportunity to see what it's all about."
